The Websense Security Suite is a comprehensive security system that has instant messaging control facilities as part of its armoury. Capable of running on Windows, Linux and Solaris operating systems, its primary function is to protect sites from web-based attacks such as trojans, worms, keystroke loggers, viruses and malicious scripts.
As far as IM is concerned, the system can provide secure file transmission capabilities, and can block transmissions from specified sources.
Any antivirus duties will need to be carried out by other software, however, and there is no content-filtering facility available to scan messages for offensive or unacceptable text.
At the heart of the system is an extensive database containing the information needed to provide protection against the various threats addressed by the software.
This database is frequently updated to keep pace with new threats as they occur, and the system is capable of downloading new data at predetermined intervals as required.
This is a lengthy process, however, even with a fast internet connection, and it would be wise to schedule it for a quiet time of the day.
The admin interface gives detailed access to the system functions, and the filtering options can be applied to each IM service as part of the rule sets applied to the various protocols.
The default protocol rules allow access to the various public services, and also allow file attachments to be sent, but these can be changed as needed, so that it is possible to block some servers altogether, while simply blocking file attachments from others. Logging can also be enabled or disabled as required.
These options can also be applied to an entire group, so that it is possible to block all file attachments from any IM server, for example.
What's more, these rules can be applied to user groups as well, so that it is possible to assign different access options to individual users according to their specific needs.
